Man sought for home improvement fraud | Police, Emergency & Courts

In the affidavit of probable cause, Loose wrote he was on duty at 3 p.m. Jan. 13 when he made contact with someone at the station to file a report regarding a theft at the home along Old State Road in the municipality. The woman stated she had bought the property at the aforementioned location and had contracted with David Patton to complete some renovations to the property.

She provided Loose with a copy of the estimate, which Patton proposed for the work to be completed, for a total of $43,000.

Patton required a deposit of $16,000 to start the renovation, Loose wrote.

Loose wrote that the homeowner paid Patton with a cashier’s check from PNC Bank in the amount of $16,000 to begin work and purchase material on Aug. 20, 2020. She stated Patton began work on the property on Aug. 21, starting with the roof, but never completed the roof or any other area needing improvement, as indicated in the agreement for the work.

The homeowner stated she attempted to contact Patton numerous times by phone, without success, and also stated she has multiple text messages between her and Patton regarding the work that was not completed, which she provided, as written in the complaint.

Loose filed one felony charge of home improvement fraud and one felony charge of theft by deception against Patton with the office of MDJ Andring.

According to court documents and a spokeswoman for the office of MDJ Andring, no preliminary hearing date had been set for Patton. However, in an unrelated case, a hearing is scheduled for March 16 for Patton before Andring on two counts of writing bad checks.

Anne Cloonan is a staff reporter for the Leader Times, a Sample News Group sibling of The Indiana Gazette. She can be reached at 724-543-1303, ext. 1337, or [email protected].